


we both start each other's fires

by andathousandyearsmore



Series: juxtaposition [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1, 5+1 Things, BAMF Darcy Lewis, BAMF Pepper Potts, Dad Steve Rogers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, For Science!, How Do I Tag, Humor, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Press Conferences, Scientist Wrangler Darcy Lewis, The Mandarin - Freeform, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Worried Steve Rogers, mentions of - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-10-18 00:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17570777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andathousandyearsmore/pseuds/andathousandyearsmore
Summary: Somewhere along the lines of Captain America and the 21st century, Steve had gained the reputation of being the logical one, and the one to end fights. The irony wasn't lost on Steve, but what was he to do about it? Not try to end fights? Not intervene?Steve know that somewhere, Bucky was laughing hard enough to cry in heaven.He think he finally understood what Bucky had felt. Maybe.alternatively:five times steve was the calm one, and one time he really wasn't





	1. Jane and Darcy (science)

**Author's Note:**

> So, it seems like I'm good at 5+1s and I love them, so here I see a five plus one that's before a famous shadow to a hidden figure.

1. 

"JANE, I SWEAR TO THOR I WILL NOT HESITATE TO SLAP A BITCH!" A pause. "EVEN IF THAT'S YOU!"

"DARCY GIVE IT BACK!"

"JANE I WILL SLAP YOU IF YOU DON'T GO TO BED RIGHT NOW!"

"MY CALCULATIONS! IT'S SCIENCE!" 

"IT COULD BE EMMA FUCKING WATSON AND I WOULDN'T GIVE A SINGLE FUCK. JANE FOSTER, BOTH OF US ARE TIRED LET'S GO!" 

"YOU'RE TIRED AND I'M PERFECTLY FINE!" 

"YOU HAVE NO COFFEE LEFT. NO POP-TARTS. NO FOOD. COME ON!"

"WHAT KIND OF AN ASSISTANT ARE YOU, THEN?" 

Steve winced at the loud conversation that was taking place in Dr. Foster's lab... without the doors closed. He could hear it down from the hall, enhanced hearing or not, and every single footstep felt like an increased decibel. Honestly, he didn't know that people could yell that loud. There wasn't even much aggression on Dr. Foster's part, either, which really raised the question of how she was even louder than Darcy, who sounded ready to either strangle or shoot a tranquilizer dart at her friend if only to get her to sleep. Now there was aggression and a woman who was ready to snap out of frustration and tiredness. 

"A GOOD ONE WHO CARES ABOUT YOU! JARVIS, CAN YOU TURN EVERYTHING OFF?" 

"DARCY!"

Steve stopped and shuddered at the ear-piercing yell. God, why did Tony have to send him, with his hearing, over to get both Darcy and Dr. Foster? This was painful more than anything. The billionaire definitely owed him something after this. Steve just wished he had brought ear plugs, not that it would have ever occurred to him before. But from now on... at night, he was going to bring a pair. 

"Darcy?" Steve quickly entered the lab, just as he heard Darcy sharply inhale to retort back. He really didn't want to hear anything that loud again. "Dr. Foster."

"Captain Rogers," Dr. Foster greeted tiredly, and he really didn't expect this tired, will-fall-down-if-pushed shell of the usually brilliant astrophysicist to yell so loudly. Now he could really see why Darcy was this adamant. This wasn't healthy. 

"Hey Steve," Darcy greeted, still angry and tense, "What's up?" 

"A few things," Steve said, blinking at how he wanted to say this. There wasn't anyway that Darcy was going to agree to what Tony had originally wanted. None. And there was no way that Dr. Foster (or Tony) would let Darcy and Steve cart her off to bed so she could rest and gain some energy back. 

"Tony?" Dr. Foster eagerly asked, suddenly acting energized again. Steve had to admire how the astrophysicist could easily pull herself out of sleep-induced hazes at the mention of science and science-related things. "Or Bruce? Betty?"

"No. Nuh-uh." Darcy firmly shook her head before he could say anything. "Nope. Sorry. Tell Tony it can wait." 

"It's ten thirty," Steve pointed out. "And Dr. Foster's been awake for—”

"Fifty-two hours.”

"—fifty two hours," Steve continued, pausing as he marveled at the number. "Wow. How much coffee has it taken?"

Darcy groaned. "Too much." Dr. Foster began to protest, before Darcy shot a truly terrifying glare that would have sent Steve packing. 

"Tony needs Dr. Foster for at least an hour and—”

"Steve, I love you and all, but I will fight you if you—”

"—I'm not in the mood to fight anyone, especially you since—”

"—even suggest what I think you're going to suggest because Jane—”

”—you would win so how about Tony and Dr. Foster work for—”

"—needs her goddamned sleep and Tony can wait for whatever stupid—”

"—an hour and a half and as soon as it hits twelve, I'll personally haul Dr. Foster to her room?”

"—fucking idea he has and—wait a second, what did you—yes! Deal! Hear that, Jane?"

Steve sighed. He had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as he had made it sound. 

* * *

The clock said 11:58 and Steve was wishing that the next minute actually lasted for another hour. The two scientists were animatedly working on whatever it was that they were doing—Steve hadn't paid attention—and didn't seem to realize that both of their times were almost up. Actually, once he was back from dropping Jane off, he had promised Pepper to do the same for Tony. Which meant two stubborn scientists were going to have to be forcibly removed, lest he feel the wrath of two powerful women that he never wanted to cross. For them, he was use that on pain of death really meant _on pain of death_  and not something less harmful. 

11:59. 

Steve wished he had magical powers to set the clock back. 

50 seconds left. 

Why did his watch just have to show the seconds?

45 seconds.

They looked like they were calculating and solving an Important Equation. 

40 seconds. 

Tony was writing something excitedly. 

35 seconds. 

Tony was erasing something, less excitedly.

30 seconds. 

Steve cursed himself for not just immediately dropping Jane off to bed. Tony was someone he could have taken easily, especially since he hadn't slept in a while and JARVIS locked the suits after forty hours of no sleep. Tony had been awake for forty one. 

25 seconds. 

Tony was still erasing. 

20 seconds. 

Tony was rewriting something he had accidentally erased. 

15 seconds. 

Jane pointed out something that made Tony curse. 

10 seconds. 

Tony was still writing. 

5 seconds. 

The time had gone by so fast. Steve panicked. 

4\. 3. 2. 1. 

"Dr. Foster!" Steve called out just as the clock struck midnight. He walked up to the two scientists and then stared down Dr. Foster. She hadn't even flinched. Steve sighed. He really didn't want to do this. 

"I'm sorry," he apologized to Dr. Foster, ignoring Tony's protests. "But Darcy's a scary woman and I don't need to get my butt kicked by her." Just as he had promised Darcy, he picked Dr. Foster up, ignoring any and all sounds coming from anything, and walked outside, where an sleepy Darcy was waiting with a camera. 

"Worth it," Darcy mumbled. "Suck it, Jane."

 


	2. reporters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> set post im3, pre ca:tws, and pre-famous shadow (go read that if you haven’t!)
> 
> in which reporters are reporters and steve is fantastic, for once, at not being pissy

Steve should have seen it coming. Today had been going too well, and Tony had already jinxed it by saying he was glad today was an attack free day, so why had Steve thought nothing was going to happen? He was an idiot, that was why. An idiot that was foolishly optimistic for once in his fucking life, and it backfired. 

Looking at the swarm of reporters that had suddenly ambushed him and Tony, Steve stifled a groan at the horrible timing. Though it wasn’t a traditional attack, reporters were probably worse, since there was no winning here. This outing was supposed to cheer Tony up after the argument Pepper and Tony had about his decision to put the reactor back in. The last thing Tony needed right now was for people to see his chest and start asking questions. 

Actually, the last thing Tony needed was someone to trigger flashbacks and unpleasant memories by saying the wrong thing. Malibu was still too recent for anything to have healed for Tony. Oh god, this was bad, this was bad, he had to get Tony out before someone said something wrong. Tony was going to try and pretend that nothing was wrong, Steve knew it, but that didn’t mean internally, Tony was fine. 

Instinctively, Steve took a step in front of Tony and tried to physically shield his friend from the reporters. So what if it really didn’t do anything? It was fine. He tried. 

“Steve, there’s this thing called moving,” Tony quietly whispered as he noticed just exactly what Steve was doing. Reporters were starting to ask questions, all of which Steve tuned out, and were shoving mics in his face, but Steve didn’t pay attention that. “And walking. Come on, please.”

Steve kept on trying to walk forwards every bit that he could, and Tony followed, also ignoring the swarm around them. It was difficult, and Steve was still trying to just keep his mouth shut to not talk. 

“Captain Rogers, what do you think of the Mandarin?”

”Captain Rogers, was the news of the Vice President shocking?”

”Captain Rogers, what are your opinions on our president?”

”Captain Rogers, where were you during the attacks on Stark Industries?”

”Captain Rogers, a word about the current crisis in Afghanistan?”

”Captain Rogers, you’ve recently been called the nation’s most eligible bachelor...”

”Captain Rogers, the ——— would like to interview about...” 

They made it to the end of the street, before it seemed like more reporters, and paparazzi joined the crowd. God, was it like the people here were texting more people to come and crowd? Steve was never going to understand the high level of interest in his day to day life, and he didn’t really want to. The day he got used to fame was the day he had finally lost his sanity. Really. 

“Tony...” Steve started off to say, a little overwhelmed by everyone and the task at hand. Shit, he had fucked this up. He could already see the signs of stress and panic on Tony’s face, because the genius tried to hide them all away with camera-worthy smiles. Tony didn’t need more people, Tony needed an out. 

“No!” Tony hissed out, catching on. “This is my fault, you can’t just...”

Steve stopped paying attention to what Tony was saying as he heard someone else’s question. 

“Why do you continue to keep Tony Stark on the team when he’s obviously...”

Steve stopped walking. 

“Excuse me, um, who asked that?” Steve calmly, politely asked, keeping a civil smile on his face. This was not going to get the best of him. Behind him, though, he could already hear the sounds of Tony typing into his Starkphone, probably for Happy. 

The crowd stilled, and finally everyone shut up. They were probably trying to find out which question Steve was talking about. With the silence, he could feel some of Tony’s breathing slower from its fast paced intakes. 

“I think someone asked me why Tony is a valuable member of this team?” Steve continued to talk, noticing the nod of acknowledgment from a cowed reporter who Steve knew to be a harsh critic of Tony’s. The man no doubt probably thought Steve was going to go off, and kept quiet. He also frowned at the different wording of his question, mainly because the man wanted the negatives, but Steve wasn’t going to go there. 

“That one I’ll do,” Steve grinned, just as the man started to correct Steve and tell him that the question wasn’t meant like that. “Tony is on the team because he is the most intelligent, dedicated, selfless, caring and worthy person I can think of to be an Avenger, and he does more good to this world than most people, and that includes any of you, or even me. No matter the personal risk, if there are benefits to others, I know he’ll carry it out and try. Tony’s a good guy, and he’ll never fail to try and work things out. He’s definitely more worthy to be an Avenger than I am, so maybe I’m not qualified enough to talk about just how valuable Tony is to the team.” 

He could hear a pin drop in the ensuing silence of the crowd, and Steve seized that moment to smile and pull both him and Tony out. They dashed into a nearby cafe just as everyone came their senses, and Tony sent a new message over to Happy, who was apologetically two districts over. 

“Steve,” Tony said, too many expressions coming over his face for Steve to get a good handle on Tony. “No comment is our best friend, and even if not, why did you —”

”No one gets to talk about my team like that,” Steve resolutely said. “And it’s _my_ fault that someone almost triggered what looked like a panic attack for you.” 

Tony instantly tensed up, like he didn’t want to talk about it. 

“It wasn’t a—”

Steve knew what this response was, at least. Denial. So he deflected whatever Tony was about to say by pretending to groan miserably. “Oh, god,” he said. “PR is going to yell at me, aren’t they?”

”Throw me under the bus,” Tony shrugged, letting down his walls again and relaxing. He took the hint subconsciously, and Steve smiled at that. Tony wasn’t completely fine, that much was fine by how the billionaire was darting his eyes and mentally counting, but it wasn’t a full blown thing like it could be. “I owe you one, and PR has also given up on me.”

Steve rolled his eyes. Crisis averted. 


	3. the twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which we wonder if Steve has unknowingly become a surburban dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This still takes place before a famous shadow.

There were some days where Steve felt like the pond scum that had been eaten by fish and then forcefully regurgitated back out by scientists doing experiments on pond scum's influence on fish lifespans. There were few others where Steve felt like the scientists who did the testing. There were  _also_ a few when he felt like the fish themselves. 

Of course, he could have gone his entire serum-enhanced life without knowing about any of that, but as it was, the universe liked to watch him suffer. The communal kitchen television was on, and both Wanda and Pietro were bickering on what to watch. Neither of them made a move to fight over the remote, instead fighting with words instead, and the TV was left om a nature channel that was droning on about this stupid, unfortunate experiment. Steve loved Bruce, he really did, but he just wished the scientist didn't always have to leave the TV on the nature channel, instead of anything else. Not even an interesting nature channel, but rather one that talked about things like experiments and probable unethical testing. 

Steve didn't want to watch pond scum, but he really didn’t want to watch Pietro and Wanda debate the merits of The Great British Bake-Off and American Horror Story, respectively. Especially when they looked like they were one wrong word from graduating to physically fighting for the remote or yelling up into the air, hoping Tony’s AI would help each other them out. 

“I have the last episode to watch, come on!” Pietro argued, interspersing numerous Sokovian words that Steve couldn’t understand in the middle of that sentence. 

“Cliffhanger! I have been dying to find out what happens next,” Wanda loudly responded, narrowing her eyes keenly at Pietro. She also threw in a bunch of Sokovian that Steve didn’t understand. 

Steve gave up on trying to understand, knowing that understanding was a battle he wouldn’t win. Instead, he snagged the remote and coughed silently, trying to make his presence known. 

“Steve!” Pietro exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with glee when he eyes the remote in Steve’s hands, “Come on, please play the Bake-Off!” 

“No, don’t you dare, play AHS,” Wanda quickly interrupted, glaring at her brother. Red sparks from her hands looked like they were reaching for the remote. “Don’t listen to him.” 

“Don’t listen to her,” Pietro shook his head frantically. “Come on.” 

Wanda yelled at Pietro in Sokovian again, and both of them delved into another argument, completely ignoring Steve again. The red sparks disappeared. He didn’t know whether to be thankful for that, or annoyed by the argument. 

“Hey FRIDAY?” Steve asked, quietly. “Can you just turn off the nature channel and play the news?” 

When the scene changed, both of the twins looked at Steve, completely aghast. “The news?” they simultaneously asked, looking at the ensuing footage of some bank robbery with disdain. Steve wanted to take a picture if their faces and then laugh at them. He didn’t. But only barely, because of the fact that he didn’t have his phone on him to take said photo. 

“The news,” Steve confirmed. “Spiderman’s on it.” 

“Aw, are you watching him like a proud dad?” Pietro asked in a mocking voice that Steve should have taken more insultingly, but didn’t really care about. 

“He is,” Wanda gleefully said, gesturing towards his face. “Proud father.” 

Steve decided to roll with it, thinking that both of them hanging up on him was better than them bickering. “He’s doing better, and thinking smarter.” 

“You and Tony,” Wanda pointed out, shaking her head with a grin, “Have all but adopted him. It is very cute.” 

“Sickeningly,” Pietro added on, unhelpful as ever. 

“You should tell that directly to Tony,” Steve merely responds.


End file.
